Just Keep Swimming

My name is Autumn Hannold and I am a junior Public Relations major at Slippery Rock University. I'm particularly interested in New Media Journalism because as  PR major, I feel that it is crucial to be completely aware of the changing forms of media in order to efficiently represent clients and conduct more personal ways of business with the variety of publics. I've been a faithful user of social media ever since the times when my biggest worry of the day was what my 'profile song' was, or what color I had set as my background on MySpace. Then, I converted on over to Facebook where one can still find me from time-to-time. Twitter is how I find everything out, and it has become even more appealing now that you can "mute" people, meaning you do not have to start World War 3 by 'unfollowing' someone, you can just delete them from your timeline and they will have no idea.

Writing has always been a hobby of mine, whether it be for a class, blog, poetry, or an occasional Facebook rant. However, after participating in a few business courses my junior and senior years of high school, I soon discovered that I also had a passion for entertainment, sports, and traveling. It was then that my teacher introduced me to the oh-so-wonderful world of PR. A perfect little combination of business and writing? This certainly sounded like a game plan to me.

Going into college, I was focused primarily on American politics and government PR. Although I still hope to land a job on Capitol Hill some day, I have recently become interested in the tourism industry. I am happiest at the beach and take a serious interest in marine life and aquatic animals. I love traveling and exploring new cultures. So, someday down the road, I'll either be the White House press secretary, living on the beach in Charleston, SC, or I'll be boarding a Caribbean Cruise Ship loving my life.


As far as traditional news outlets are concerned, I tend to watch MSNBC. Politics are an interest of mine, so I do watch Fox News, too, to prevent selective exposure. I also religiously watch the 6:30 Nightly News Broadcast with Brian Williams. This could be because it is the quickest and most detailed recap of the day's events, or because someday Brian and I are getting married. Most of the time, however, Twitter is the quickest way to discover new information in today's media landscape. 

In terms of a new-media outlet, I shamefully admit that BuzzFeed takes up storage on my Apple iPhone. As non-credible and unprofessional as they are, the app does have some perks. When the user first downloads the application, they have the ability to select news that seems interesting to them. So, BuzzFeed essentially caters the news to your personal interests, unless it's a breaking news story, of course. Since younger people are not as interested in the news, Buzzfeed is an efficient way to expose them to stories that they would not have seen, had they not downloaded the app.